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2015 Call for the international IPSR Joint Usage/Research Center research proposals

Since April 2010, the Okayama University Institute of Plant Science and Resources (IPSR) functions as a national “Joint Usage/Research Center” focusing on plant bioresources and stress science. This program is directly promoted by the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology in Japan (MEXT).

As part of the intense globalization process in Japan, IPSR aims to become an international “hub” in plant stress science. Along with this idea, IPSR now invites foreign scientists to conduct collaborative research with selected IPSR group(s) in the period of mid-July 2015 – March 2016. Exchange of young scientists, including PhD students, is particularly welcomed and supported by this program. In principle, this program is designed to cover basic travel costs and living expenses up to several weeks in Japan, while suitable research environment is provided by the IPSR local group(s) (see budget distribution below).
The current 2015 Call for Proposals will support four new projects in the area of plant stress biology and bioresources that can directly benefit from the use of state-of-art equipment at IPSR (see common IPSR instruments; Advanced Network ), and from the open research environment in the institute (groups).

The conditions for each proposal include financial support to cover travel expenses during research stay(s) at IPSR campus in Kurashiki, Japan (up to max. JPY 400,000), and consumables used in this research (up to max. JPY 100,000 awarded to host PI). Depending on seasonal availability, on-campus accommodation can be pre-arranged in the  Kurashiki Guesthouse. Potential applicants are requested to make direct contact with their intended principal collaborator(s) at IPSR (group list), and discuss conditions, design and specific requirements for their experiments prior to submitting the joint-application. Please note that name and consent of collaborating PI at IPSR is strictly required for acceptance of each proposal. Application Form (download here) should be sent by email to kyodo1247ATadm.okayama-u.ac.jp (replace AT with @ before sending). All applications must arrive before June-26 2015, 5:00 PM JST. Official language of all proposals is English.

We believe that international collaborations are fundamental for our future development at the institute. In particular, we seek jointly developed ideas as strong pillars for promotion of plant science, assuring sufficient and sustainable food production worldwide.